More Shows Cancelled
"BERLIN, Sept. 26 — A leading German opera house has canceled performances of a Mozart opera because of security fears stirred by a scene that depicts the severed head of the Prophet Muhammad, prompting a storm of protest here about what many see as the surrender of artistic freedom.
"In the scene that offended Muslims and led to security fears, a king places the severed heads of religious leaders on chairs.
The Deutsche Oper Berlin said Tuesday that it had pulled “Idomeneo” from its fall schedule after the police warned of an “incalculable risk” to the performers and the audience." New York Times, Sept. 27
Also cancelled:
"Salome." Muslims protestd that there was only one severed Christian head, and that's just not good enough.
"La Traviata." Muslims protested that the heroine was permitted to die of natural causes. "Why was that woman not stoned to death as proper etiquette demands? It is shameful!"
"Madame Butterfly." Muslims complained that the heroine was allowed to commit suicide. "Adulterous Japanese whore! Stone her, stone her!"
Shows not cancelled:
"Dialogues of the Carmelites." "Murdered nuns? Now that's more like it!"
"In the scene that offended Muslims and led to security fears, a king places the severed heads of religious leaders on chairs.
The Deutsche Oper Berlin said Tuesday that it had pulled “Idomeneo” from its fall schedule after the police warned of an “incalculable risk” to the performers and the audience." New York Times, Sept. 27
Also cancelled:
"Salome." Muslims protestd that there was only one severed Christian head, and that's just not good enough.
"La Traviata." Muslims protested that the heroine was permitted to die of natural causes. "Why was that woman not stoned to death as proper etiquette demands? It is shameful!"
"Madame Butterfly." Muslims complained that the heroine was allowed to commit suicide. "Adulterous Japanese whore! Stone her, stone her!"
Shows not cancelled:
"Dialogues of the Carmelites." "Murdered nuns? Now that's more like it!"
DIH -
ReplyDeleteGiddy up and amen.
Can it be a sin to laugh at some blog posts?
ReplyDeleteIt seems that the cancellation will be revoked and this opera will be shown after all. What a great and shrewd publicity stunt the opera house made by first announcing the cancellation. Usually hardly anybody would be interested in that opera, but now it is the talk of the town.
ReplyDeleteLet's not forget that theater plays critical of Christians and Israel also get canceled. Earlier this year:
"A New York theatre company has put off plans to stage a play about an American activist killed by an Israeli bulldozer in Gaza because of the current "political climate" - a decision the play's British director, Alan Rickman, denounced as "censorship"."
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/theatre-gets-stagefright-over-play-on-israeli-death-of-activist/2006/02/28/1141095740986.html
I am not a fan of Rachel Corrie. Not at all. However, if one criticizes the canellation of the Mozart opera for fear of offending Muslimes, then one should also criticize the canceling of that play for fear of offending supporters of Israel..
Besides:
"On May 23, 1998, the New York Times announced that the Manhattan Theatre Club would be canceling its scheduled production of playwright Terrence McNally's newest play, Corpus Christi, due to bomb and death threats made against the theatre, its personnel, and the playwright. The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights disavowed responsibility for the threats but did publicly applaud the decision, calling the play "blasphemous.""
http://muse.jhu.edu/cgi-bin/access.cgi?uri=/journals/theatre_journal/v051/51.2pr_mcnally.html
When Corpus Christi was shown in Germany in 2000, there have been death threats and bomb threats as well:
http://www.cityinfonetz.de/tagblatt/thema/thema39/
Thus it could very well be that the threats against the "Idomeneo" opera are not only coming from Muslims, but from Christians, who don't like to see the severed head of Jesus... Having said that: The concern about attacks from Muslims is bigger.